Catamite vs. Pederast

By Jaxson

  • Catamite

    In ancient Greece and Rome, a catamite (Latin: catamitus) was a pubescent boy who was the intimate companion of a young man, usually in a pederastic relationship. It was generally a term of affection and literally means “Ganymede” in Latin, but it was also used as a term of insult when directed toward a grown man. The word derives from the proper noun Catamitus, the Latinized form of Ganymede, the name of the beautiful Trojan youth abducted by Zeus to be his companion and cupbearer, according to Greek mythology. The Etruscan form of the name was Catmite, from an alternative Greek form of the name, Gadymedes.In its modern usage, the term catamite refers to a boy as the passive or receiving partner in anal intercourse with a man.

Wikipedia
  • Catamite (noun)

    A boy or younger man in a homoerotic relationship with an older man. 1552

  • Pederast (noun)

    A man who is engaged in an erotic relationship with an adolescent boy; a practitioner of pederasty.

    “Uranian|q1=literary, archaic”

Wiktionary

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